Dance the Night Away
by UnderdogHero
Summary: Wataru comes to visit Hokuto after a few days of absence, and convinces him to talk the only way he knows how.


A/N: I discussed this idea with Zephyr a few times, and while trying to sleep through my birthday I ended up coming up with how exactly it should go. Needless to say, I didn't sleep :/

This would be set some time before Midsummer Night's Dream, for timeline's sake.

 **.**

Hokuto groaned, rolling onto his back and throwing his blanket off. Staring up at the ceiling, he tried to will himself back to sleep, nodding off slightly before suddenly being wide awake for no specific reason. This was how it's been the past four days.

Four days. He hadn't been to school in four days.

He wasn't sure what started it. He remembered waking up like normal the first day, only for a sudden wave of lethargy to come over him the moment he stepped out of his room. Then he recalled taking a shower, eating breakfast, and returning to his room without a word. When his grandmother came by to check on him about an hour after school had started, he couldn't bring himself to say anything, being somewhere between awake and asleep. He didn't dream - at least, he didn't remember if he did - which made him feel even more empty, not having anything to think about when he woke.

Instead, he attempted to find the source of his problem, figuring it was motivational. Every time he seemed to have an answer, it escaped him, and he was left frustrated and tired. His parents never questioned him, either because they didn't feel like it or because they assumed he was going through a rough time at school. Either way, they allowed him to return to his room every morning, never saying anything.

The next three days were mostly the same, only getting progressively worse as the days went on. He still managed to force himself to shower and eat like usual, not willing to give up personal hygiene and nutrition to this unknown condition, but no matter what he did he seemed to always end up in bed, sleeping or staring at nothing in particular.

The lights were off, so the stars he'd painted on his ceiling and walls a while ago - Yozuki's idea, though he thought it was a nice touch - glowed lightly, barely illuminating the room. Out of boredom he named the constellations in his mind, tracing them with his eyes. The Big Dipper. Pleiades. Andromeda. Pyxis. Sirius - represented as the largest star near the center. The list went on.

Sighing, he closed his eyes, forcing away the glow that lingered in the back of his eyes.

 _Thump_.

His eyes shot open, head turning slowly to look around the room. When he saw nothing out of place - at least that he could see from his position - he relaxed again, pulling his blanket back up.

 _Thump. Thump_.

Frowning, but not opening his eyes, he turned onto his side and pulled his blanket all the way over his head in an attempt to muffle the sound.

Then, mixed in, he heard a voice

 _"Hokuto-kuuuun_ -"

Groaning again, he sat up slowly, back aching slightly from having been in the same position for so long. Turning to the window, he squinted and -

"Hibiki-bucho?!"

Said boy smiled widely, waving at him from the other side of the glass. Hokuto stumbled out of bed, flicking on the lights before rushing to the window. He unlocked it, pushing it up and helping his senior inside.

"Good evening!" Wataru said, not at all bothered by the fact that he was being pulled in through a window. Hokuto gave him an exasperated look.

"What are you doing here?" He said, shutting the window once he felt the cold air. He turned back to see Wataru brushing himself off despite there being no dirt.

"I came for a home visit!" He said cheerfully, waving his hands in a theatrical fashion. Hokuto quickly shushed him, glancing at the clock to see it was a little past eight. "Of course, it's a little late, but one cannot simply let inspiration go by."

"What "inspiration", you climbed up the side of my house!" He said, attempting to keep his voice down.

"You weren't answering the phone." The elder insisted. "I tried the front door, but I was unable to make it past your mother."

"She turned you away?"

"She slammed the door in my face."

Hokuto winced, making a mental note to talk to his mother in the morning. She was probably awake now, but he didn't want to risk her finding out how Wataru came to be in his room.

"So... you climbed the wall."

"I had the idea to serenade you from outside, but past experience has shown me that your mother would most likely have called the police."

"I think anyone would call the police, if they saw you."

Wataru just waved a hand and looked around, shrugging off the backpack he carried and looking slightly mystified. Now that he thought about it, this was his first time in Hokuto's room, much less his house, wasn't it? They usually did things at his or Tomoya's.

"And... what did you want?" He asked, though he had an idea as to what it was. Wataru placed the bag carefully on the dresser before turning to the younger male.

"Simple - a member of my club has been absent for several days, and I wanted to see what was wrong." He took a step closer, looking Hokuto over and humming. "You don't appear to be physically ill, so the matter must be mental."

"I don't think I like how that sounds..."

Wataru looked him in the eye for a good second before pulling back and examining the room with more interest. Hokuto sighed in relief, staring longingly at his bed. When Wataru glanced back and saw this, he turned and bowed dramatically, with such suddenness that Hokuto jumped.

"My prince, what a pitiful look you have on your face! Am I to watch as you suffer, my role as a jester that brings happiness forgotten and flung aside so that you may weep in darkness? Please, shout your worries to the sky, so that the moon may reflect it upon the world!"

Hokuto blinked in confusion, not really understanding what Wataru wanted him to do. It was weird, even for him. After a second, Wataru looked up at him with one eye open, obviously waiting.

"Uh, I'm not shouting anything, it's the middle of the night." He said hesitantly. The corner of Wataru's lip twitched downwards, not getting the response he wanted. He stood up to his full height, arms waving widely.

"Then if you must, whisper them to me, so that I may assuage you of your troubles." Again, he looked at Hokuto expectantly. The boy frowned in confusion, before his eyes widened in understanding.

"Alas, it is true. My heart is weighed down by a crushing despair that refuses to leave me, and I have been unable to put such thoughts into words." He said, finally catching on to his senior's sudden ad-lib session. It'd be a while since they last did something like this, and he was caught off-guard

This seemed to please Wataru, and he grinned and waved a hand to the chair by Hokuto's desk. Hokuto did as directed, falling into the seat with exaggerated anguish, sighing heavily as he put a hand to his forehead. Wataru knelt down in front of him, eyeing him in a way that urged him to go on.

"Day by day, I wake, and just when I think I would like to be productive, I am overcome by an insatiable urge to return to my quarters and sleep. I know not what brought this on, but as the days went by my condition seems to have worsened, to the point that I find difficulty even rising from bed."

As he spoke, Wataru's expression darkened, wide grin now replaced with a thoughtful frown. Hokuto hesitated to continue, not quite sure what else to say - he wasn't entirely aware of what was going on himself, after all - so Wataru said his part.

"If I may say, my prince," He paused, and Hokuto nodded for him to continue. "perhaps it is not that you are ill, but simply suffering feelings of deep regret and sorrow?"

Hokuto opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it once he realized he had nothing to respond with. His chest felt tight, and a strange feeling - one he'd liken to submerging yourself in water - came over him. It was a scary feeling.

"In recent days, you have been rather absent-minded, and I have caught you lost in thought several times during our activities. At times you gaze into nothingness, or scowl at your own visage when looking into the mirror. Would I be wrong to assume you are still feeling guilty over what happened between you and your friends?"

Suddenly, it all made sense to him. His reluctance to leave his house, ignoring phone calls from his friends when he knew they were worried, telling his parents to turn them away at the door - he supposed he was at fault for Wataru having been refused, though he didn't doubt his mother would have had the same response anyway.

He still felt it, the pain of betraying them when they needed him most, for his own desires and satisfaction. And what did it bring him? He wasn't any closer with his father, if the past few days have been anything to go by.

It was all for nothing.

"It... is true." He said finally, shoulders slumping. He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, willing away the feeling of drowning and the tightness in his chest that made him want to scream. "I have yet to come to terms with my own actions, and the darkness in my heart just keeps piling up, threatening to consume me. I worry about what actions I will take if it is not resolved quickly."

The somberness of his tone startled Wataru, his eyes widening and his mouth forming a thin line. He waited a moment, considering his own words.

"It is my honest opinion, my dear, that you have nothing to be guilty over." He said. "You acted in your best interest, and took at path that you thought would lead you to your happy ending. It may have been the wrong one, but it led you back to the place where you belong, and you have found happiness there, no?"

Hokuto nodded stiffly, not meeting his eyes.

"Then what is there to worry about?" Slowly, he let his words lose their formality, but still spoke in a way that would allow Hokuto be open. "They accepted you, welcomed you back with open arms. If you ask me why, it is because they love you, and I have no doubt in my mind that they would be heartbroken had you not returned to them."

Hokuto felt a hand slip into his own, while the other came up to cup his cheek, stroking it lightly. He felt something smear against his skin, and he realized quickly that he was crying, making Wataru chuckle at his expression.

"A friend's love is something that should never come into question, no matter what your actions may have been. Theirs, and mine."

At that, Hokuto let out a short laugh, squeezing his hand back and wiping his face with his sleeve. He didn't doubt Wataru's words - the older boy was nothing but honest with him, no matter how brutal it was sometimes.

"You broke character." He said, voice slightly strained and shaky. Wataru gave him a shocked look, before smiling and standing up.

"Your words merely startled me into breaking my persona, as they would anyone who hears such a thing." He looked back down at Hokuto, a glint in his eye. "Of course, you will abandon such thoughts, as I will not allow someone that shines so bright to be consumed by darkness."

"Sakuma-senpai says darkness is comforting, though." Hokuto teased, noting how Wataru had yet to release his hand. His senior put on a betrayed look, turning his head away with a pout.

"So he has tempted you with the sweet embrace of the night! Of course, there is no better place for a star to shine, so I suppose I must leave you, as I am a being of the morn!"

He finally broke his hold, turning with a flare and dropping down next to the bed, burying his face in the sheets. Hokuto held back a laugh, his club president's - usually annoying - antics amusing him. He was about to stand up and give the boy a half-hearted assurance, when Wataru stood up suddenly, surprising him for the third time that night.

"However!" He said, hands on his hips. "I refuse to give in to the one I call "friend", no matter what methods he may use to steal you away!"

Hokuto now wanted to tell him he was joking, that there was no way Rei was going to steal him away - if he didn't have something to say about it, Koga would, and that would just be asking for trouble.

He didn't get the chance, however, as Wataru quickly skipped past him and flicked the lights off, startling Hokuto for a different reason.

"What are you-"

"If I am to defeat my dear adversary, there is but one thing to do - embrace that which has enchanted you, and make it mine."

Hokuto saw him - with the dim moonlight barely illuminating the room - walk back to the dresser, unzipping his bag and pulling out an odd, spherical object. He set it down, pushing what Hokuto assumed was a button, and the room lit up with dozens of shining white lights, outdoing his glow-in-the-dark stars easily. They moved across the walls and ceiling, making Hokuto stare in awe. He barely noticed when Wataru came back over until he was suddenly pulled to his feet, an arm wrapping around his waist and turning him to an unknown rhythm. That was when he realized there was a small, jingling sound, like a music box. The song was unfamiliar to him, but it was soothing, and he relaxed immediately. Wataru smiled down at him, a genuine one that he saw only in these moments, and he couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him.

"Now, let us dance in the night sky, on a stage meant only for us!"

 **.**

A/N: Wataru is a pain to write, if only because of the way he talks sometimes. I'm pretty sure I used all the wrong adjectives in all the wrong places, but what can you do when you have one word that has too many synonyms.

On another note, it got really serious really fast and I started wondering where the idea went from "Wataru breaks into Hokuto's house" to "Wataru tries to talk Hokuto out of depression" because goddammit that was not how things were supposed to go lol.


End file.
